The ASEAN-Korea Centre organized the 2018 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop on 2-12 July 2018 in Seoul, Korea and Manila, Philippines. Having been held under the theme of ASEAN and Korean Youth as Drivers of Global Digitalization, the Workshop gathered 70 students from the 10 ASEAN Member States, Korea, China, and Japan. The Workshop offered various activities that aimed to raise the awareness of ASEAN, ASEAN-Korea relations, and digitalization as well as to forge long-lasting friendship and camaraderie. It was conducted in collaboration with Seoul National University Asia Center, University of the Philippines Asian Center, and Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines.

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE KOREA PROGRAM

The Workshop was divided into two programs namely the Korea Program and the Philippines Program. The Korea Program ran from 2 to 6 July 2018. At the Opening Ceremony, H.E. Ambassador Lee Hyuk, Secretary General of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, and Dr. Park Soo-jin, Director of Seoul National University Asia Center delivered the opening and welcoming remarks, respectively.

LECTURES

Various lectures were conducted during the Korea Program: ASEAN and Korea: Past, Present and Future by Dr. Lee Jaehyon, Senior Fellow, Asan Institute for Policy Studies; Global Trends in Digitalization by Mr. Park Hyun-soo, Research Fellow, Korea Telecommunications Research Institute; Digitalization in Korea by Dr. Choi Byung-sam, Director, Science and Technology Policy Institute; Industry 4.0 and Sharing Economy in ASEAN by Dr. Eom Eunhui, Research Fellow, SNU Asia Center; Education in the Digital Era by Dr. Suh Soonsik, Professor, Computer Education, Chuncheon National University of Education; Digitalization in Seoul by Ms. Ko Kyunghee, Director of Information Planning Division, Seoul Metropolitan Government; and Role and Participation of Cities and Local Governments in Pursuing Sustainable Urban Development Based on E-government and ICT by Mr. Andrew Lim, Program Officer, WeGO.

MEET AND GREET WITH MAYOR PARK WON-SOON

A meet and greet session with Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon was also conducted, where the Mayor shared the ongoing and future policies and projects related to digitalization in Seoul. Upon learning about Seoul’s plan, the participants engaged in a Q & A Session with the Mayor.

SITE VISITS

The participants also visited the following sites relevant to digitalization: Samsung D’Light, an exhibition venue of the latest Samsung products; Seoul City Hall; Seoul Transport Operations and Information Service, a government agency that provides services related to transportation and information dissemination; Digital Media City, a complex that houses digital technologies, offices, television network headquarters, and others; and VRight, a virtual reality experience center.

TEAM MISSIONS

As part of the Workshop, the students engaged in various ice-breaking activities and team missions. The participants were divided into 10 groups. Each group was tasked to produce two videos: 1. a recap video of their day-to-day activities during the Workshop; and 2. a video on what they have learned about digitalization during the Workshop. For the digitalization video, the participants competed to get the Most Entertaining, Most Creative, and Most Informative awards.

CULTURAL EXPLORATIONS

To celebrate the cultures of participating students, cultural explorations were conducted. These included talent show (cultural performances), Korean craft-making activity, and Korean traditional attire experience.

CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE KOREA PROGRAM

The Korea Program Closing Ceremony was held on 6 July 2018 at the ASEAN Hall of the ASEAN-Korea Centre. The Ceremony was attended not only by the participants but also by Ambassadors and Embassy Officials of ASEAN Embassies in Korea. At the Ceremony, H.E. Secretary General Lee Hyuk delivered the Closing Remarks while the Lao PDR Ambassador to Korea and ASEAN Committee in Seoul Chairman H.E. Ambassador Khamsouay Keodalavong gave the Congratulatory Remarks. Groups and students that performed well in the talent show and video competition were also given prizes. Furthermore, Afi, a participant from Indonesia, and Victor, a participant from Korea, delivered appreciation speech on behalf of the participants.

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE PHILIPPINES PROGRAM

On 7 July, the participants flew to Manila for the Philippines Program, which was held from 7-12 July 2018. The participants were joined by 10 Filipino students who are based in the country. The Opening Ceremony of the Philippines Program was organized on the same day at the auditorium of the University of the Philippines Asian Center. H.E. Secretary General Lee Hyuk gave the Opening Remarks while Dr. Joefe Santarita, Dean of the University of the Philippines, and Mr. Arnold Gonzales, Office-in-Charge of the Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines, delivered Welcoming Remarks. Following the Opening Ceremony, a dinner reception was held.

LECTURES

For the lectures in the Philippines Program, a wide variety of topics was covered: ASEAN by Dr. Joefe Santarita, Dean of the University of the Philippines Asian Center; Digitalization in ASEAN by Ms. Lee Sooyoun, Consultant at NCS Consulting; Digitalization in the Philippines by Ms. JG Ortilla, Business Development Specialist at Bases Conversion and Development Authority; Culture and Information-sharing by Ms. Chay Hofileña, Editor and Head of Newsbreak, Rappler’s Investigative Section; Social media for Social Good by Ms. Raisa Serafica, Unit Head of Civic Engagement of Rappler; and Disinformation on Social Media by Ms. Stacy de Jesus, Head of the Digital Communications and Civic Engagement.

PANEL DISCUSSION

As an additional feature of the Workshop this year, a panel discussion was held where three related topics to digitalization were covered, namely: Entrepreneurship and Digitalization by Mr. Adria Villarroya, Program Associate, QBO Innovation Hub; Mobility and Digitalization by Mr. Justine Romasanta, Senior Operations and Logistics Manager, Uber; Research, Big Data and Digitalization by Mr. Ralph Regalado, Manager, Google Developers Group Philippines

SITE VISITS

Visit to relevant sites namely Rappler, Acudeen, and QBO Innovation Hub was also conducted. Rappler is the only news agency in the Philippines that is purely digital and online. Acudeen is one of the most awarded fintech startups in the Philippines. QBO Innovation Hub is a program of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines that supports digital startups in the Philippines. The participants also visited the Korean Embassy in the Philippines where they had a meet and greet opportunity with the Ambassador of Korea to the Philippines, H.E. Han Dong-man, and learned about Korea-Philippines relations.

CULTURAL EXPLORATIONS

To enable the participants to know more about the culture of ASEAN, specifically the Philippines, enjoyable cultural activities were held: tour of Hotel de Oriente, the first hotel in the Philippines; river cruise, traditional carriage ride, traditional Filipino games, and jeepney ride.

TEAM MISSIONS

The participants were tasked to prepare policy proposals and presentations, where they applied everything that they have learned from the entire Workshop. The participants identified a problem related to digitalization in ASEAN and came up with a proposal to the problem. On the last day of the Workshop, they presented their creative proposals to the participants. After the presentations, a lively question and answer was carried out among the students.

CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE PHILIPPINES PROGRAM

The Closing Ceremony of the Philippines Program and the 2018 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop was held on 11 July 2018 at the Auditorium of the University of the Philippines Asian Center. The Closing Remarks were given by Mr. Phan The Thang, Deputy Head of the Information and Data Unit of the ASEAN-Korea Centre. The Congratulatory Remarks, on the other hand, were given by Dr. Joefe Santaria, Dean of the University of the Philippines and Ms. Nerissa Juan, Tourism Division Chief at Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines. The best policy proposal awards, most active students, and other recognition were given at the Ceremony. Furthermore, Eppie, a participant from the Philippines, and Madeline, a participant from Korea delivered their appreciation message on behalf of the participants. Finally, participants chose the song “ASEAN Rise” to sing as one ASEAN-Korea Choir to celebrate the closing of the Workshop.

The ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop is the flagship youth program of the ASEAN-Korea Centre. It was initiated in 2012 and has invited over 500 participants from ASEAN Member States, Korea, China, and Japan. Starting 2018, the Workshop is going to be held under the broad themes of Science, Technology and Innovation as well as digitalization, which are timely and relevant to both ASEAN and Korea.